We have extensive experience managing companies that require formal or informal restructuring…
We also have extensive experience managing potentially litigious matters from a business perspective, while minimizing legal costs and accelerating the timeline to a resolution.
The next crisis that could threaten your company may be one deal away, putting your reputation and business at risk. We advise clients on ways to prepare for, respond to, and emerge stronger from any financial or operational crisis. We also assist to put in place controls and governance structures to help identify risk areas to prevent crisis situations. Here are the major reasons for the owner of a small to medium-sized business to consider retaining a crisis manager.
You are deeply involved in the day-to-day operations of the business. In most small to medium-sized business, the CEO takes on many roles, some of which keep the business moving forward on a day-to-day basis. When a CEO takes sole responsibility for responding to even a small crisis situation, she takes her attention off of the key roles she already plays, further exacerbating the crisis situation. A crisis manager takes ownership of the situation and allows the CEO to run the business.
Crisis managers have been through the crisis management process and the first hours or days are critical. When a crisis arises, often times the most serious damage to an organization results from poor management of the crisis rather than the crisis itself. The first few hours or days set the stage for the balance of the management and resolution process and it is essential to have expert advice on your side from the start.
Communication is the key. Clear and timely communication during the time of crisis is vitally important to manage the release of pertinent details to all stakeholders and to control your message and protect your organization’s reputation. A crisis manager works with clients to help them communicate critical messages across social and traditional media channels to inform key stakeholders while pre-empting reputational threats. The implications of an ill-conceived communication strategy include:
- Operational break downs.
- Stakeholder confusion – they will not know what is happening and become confused, angry, and/or negative regarding the company.
- The organization will be viewed as incompetent, and potentially negligent.
- The time required to bring resolution to the issue will be dramatically longer.
Decisive action is often required. Crises that have significant financial or reputational impacts often require a decisive response, which can usually only result from decisions from the CEO and the Board of Directors. While these decisions can have a major impact on the future of the business, they are often made on tight timelines and with imperfect information. A crisis manager brings all pertinent information available to the decision makers and facilitates decision making in an informed and confident environment.